The first thing my mind registered was an unfamiliar sound. chirping? Next, my body felt cool and comfortable, which didn’t seem quite right. I opened my eyes, then gasped. I lay in a room not unlike a domed living space. There were furnishings for sitting and tables. But what really stood out were the shelves upon shelves of books. Posters of earth larger than any of mine at home and other various images that I didn’t recognize. It was incredible.

Without thinking, I bolted upright, only to cringe at a stinging pull in my right arm. Shuffling soft white covers to the side of a bed I’d somehow ended up in , I found the resistance. It came from a small clear tube inserted at the inside bend of my elbow. I knew what this was from an ancient medical book. Who gave me an IV and-. The thought stopped short. What was there wasn’t the issue, it’s what was missing. No metallic HAG glistened back at me. Only a thin forearm with deep blue veins showing through nearly transparent pale skin. My breathing sped, and the room spun. Where is it? My chest tightened as the questions piled.

My pulse racing, I readied to yank the tube from my arm before catching sight of a smaller table. A long metal and composite weapon sat atop a pile of dirty clothes and ammunition. My contender. The influx of emotion attached to the gun pushed me over the edge. My stomach heaved and jerked to avoid vomiting on myself. The memories drove into my mind like nails. The heathen woman, her wild eyes and the threat of killing me and the green haired girl. Then the horrifying image as her head erupted from her shoulders with my last shot. I’d killed a person after promising to never.

I fell back half hanging off the bed, cold sweat running down my neck. Every part of me felt rubbery and disconnected. I held up my right hand to stare again. Using the astonishing sight to distract from the nausea. This couldn’t be real. The HAG wouldn’t come off, I thought and fingered along one vein as wonder blended with terror. The skin here seemed paper thin and impossibly smooth. This was the arm I’d never know. A stranger. There was no way anyone had brought me here, wherever here was. Could I be dead? My breathing reached a fever pitch.

“Commander, this will help you relax. Your body is not healed.” A soothing voice spoke.

A slender young woman with red hair was suddenly standing beside me. Large gray eyes looked down with concern. In her hands, she held a thin syringe from which she was pushing a clear liquid into the IV tube. Where did she come from? I attempted to scramble from my position, but the world went hazy and numb. Did she poison me? Who is she? I couldn’t fight the pull. My head sank and all drifted to dark.

*********************************************************************

There was the chirping again, and a thick aroma wafting. One eye opened, then the other, met with gray retinas staring back. “Commander, how do you feel?” The red headed woman asked. I stifled the shock of her presence.

“I’m. . . what? Where am I?”

“You are in recovery room one zero three, in utopia settlement five.”

“I don’t know where that is, or this. . . Who are you?”

“My name is Hairu. But at your rank, you may address me as you see fit.”

“He-, Hay.” I struggled to pronounce the bizarre name as fog lifted from my mind and the weight of stress replaced it. The woman’s face seemed patient and concerned. Round eyes, low swooping cheek bones and perfect skin. Thin lips held into a line. She was very young, maybe younger than me? And I’d never seen clothes like hers. They weren’t robes or a skintight suit as the green-haired girl wore. It was a one-piece number, resembling a close fitting white shirt that ran to mid thigh, leaving the rest of her legs bare. Excluding short matching boots.

“Hay-ru. That is the way it is spoken, commander.” She drew my attention back to her face.

“Why do you keep calling me commander?”

“The designation on your augmentation device is an officer level. Am I wrong in the assumption of your rank?”

“I. . . what’s an augmentation device? A rank?” I fumbled through my thoughts. Owls called the HAG a human augmenting gauntlet. Did she mean the same thing? Never picturing myself having this conversation, I couldn’t find words. Jazz had shown me a book about military hierarchy. Were commanders more important than generals? I thought they were both leaders of some sort, not that it mattered. The compounding abstract questions served as a distraction from the needling dread that crept into the corners of my consciousness. I was glad for it.

Hairu’s eyes drifted down. Is she sad? I wondered. But the emotion vanished as fast as it showed up.

“Those are apparently inquiries for later. Well then, how shall I address you?” She asked.

“Um, call me Ex. That’s my name.”

“Wonderful, do you need further help with the annunciation of my name?”

“No, Hairu. I’m pretty sure I got it.”

Noticing that the small table no longer held my belongings, “where did my gear go? And how did I get here?” I asked, still unsure where here was. Being at the edges of the Red made up my last memories, and I wanted to ignore those for as long as I could. Maybe this was all in my head.

“Miss IO brought you in critical condition. You had several wounds, one of which was quite grievous and highly infected. Your temperature was nearing terminal levels.”

Miss IO? Temperature? So, I was wound sick. I reached for my neck, finding stiff wiry hairs at the skin. Sutures? I’d only ever required my flesh sewn once in my life, not long after being taken in by Jazz. This felt much the same, but less painful. As though reading my mind, the woman handed me a small round mirror.

“I believe you will find the work is up to expected conditions.”

Again, I noticed my bare forearm as I reached with my right hand. “Where is. . . the HAG?” I asked, while assessing my reflection. As she said, the wound was several centimeters long, but neatly pulled together with stitching. The rest of my face was covered with healing scabs, and deep purple circles hung below my eyes. It looked like someone else.

I felt dizzy as the situation pressed down on me. This very well may have been exactly what I’d been looking for, judging by the lack of anything showing the faith’s presence here. But instead of being excited, I felt lost. This wasn’t just a new area. It was a different world. Reality seemed to have passed me by, leaving me a destroyed mess in the care of someone I didn’t know. A parasite.

“Your augmenting gauntlet required updating,” Hairu looked down with concern as she spoke, something unreadable on her face. Then she peered back up. “although the organic software itself is. . . old. I have seen to it you’ll have the most recent protocols and functions.”

The room spun again as I tried taking this all in. She didn’t seem at all put off by the fact that I possessed the HAG. She stood unnaturally stiff, but not defensive or nervous. updating it? I wondered. Owls messed with the thing back at German Olympus and failed, only disabling it, and his knowledge was both unexpected and startling. “Hairu, how did you get the HAG off?”

She looked confused at the question, head tilting. “I used a medical override, of course. And I recommend you remove it more often yourself. The natural antibacterial of the nanotech will keep your epidermis healthy, but sunlight in controlled amounts can be good as well.”

Despite extensive effort, my vision blurred with moisture, and I let my face fall into my hands. This was all too much. The device anchored to my body shaped the outcome of every choice in my life. Costing others theirs and making the last however many days misery. This woman, or girl, stood to accuse me of being irresponsible with the damn thing.

“It seems miss IO and the others were correct. unfortunate.”

I looked up at that comment, feeling my face twisting. What she saying? Something about the way she spoke brought back the judgmental memories of faith followers. Hot prickles ran up my spine. “What do you mean they were right? About me? What have I done to any of them? Whoever this Miss IO is can eat mearth!”

“Please calm down Mr. Ex. There was no derogatory meaning to my statement.” Lightning fast, HAIRU held the tube and syringe again and was injecting the clear liquid. I reached to stop the act, but her grip was iron and unmoving. She fought me off gently with just her shoulder. “Do not worry, the dosage of midazolam I am giving you is quite safe.”

“The what you’re giving me?” I shouted. And doubled my efforts to fight the stranger off. My pulse wavered when I was slammed back in the bed by the heavy pressure at my throat. I couldn’t breathe under the thin fingers of her? The green haired girl stood, orange eyes glaring over me. Her arm locked at my neck, pinning me down. Where did she come from? Admittedly, I hadn’t paid much mind to my surroundings when I woke. She’d obviously been in the room.

“dimittite eum placet omnia bene.” Hairu said.

The grip lightened but didn’t release. I wheezed as my body felt heavier, and a haze veiled my thoughts. She can speak that language? Adjusting to my dull state of being, I relaxed to the best of my ability and was released. The orange eyed stranger stepped away.

Her green hair was no longer twisted down her back, but instead hung in straight curtains that fell to the tops of her thighs. The blue suit was replaced with a simple gray shirt and pants, but she still wore the knee high boots. What is her deal?

“Miss IO is convinced that you are an escaped prisoner. She said you helped her, but feels you are a threat.” Hairu said.

“Her?” I mumbled as my mind drifted further from the world.

“Yes. Verisha IO. She brought you here.”

Verisha? That’s odd to have two names? I thought. Maybe everyone here had unique names. I watched as Verisha sat down at the edge of a table, an enormous pile of documents and maps in front of her. She spared a piercing look that softened slightly with the raise of a single eyebrow. Then, returning to whatever she had been doing before my outburst, I was left ignored.

“I believe you should rest again, mister Ex. Your condition seems to be well on its way to one hundred percent, but I feel the stress of a new environment is taking a toll. But. . .” Hairu hesitated before continuing. “I have dealt with a similar situation before. And we can solve this.” There was an odd emotion on her face as she finished.

Giving my shoulder a gentle shake, she left to stand near Verisha. I gritted my teeth, fighting my drooping eyelids as the two females drifted into a quiet conversation. Something about going to sleep at this point frightened me. Being awake brought the comfort of controlling my thoughts to some degree, even in this place. Despite my desperate effort, Hairu’s medicine buried me in unconsciousness.

My dreams were a plague. The scene from the battle at the end of the by-wheel chase replayed over and over. The decision made perfect sense at the time. But now, I was less sure. Should I have shot her in the leg, or maybe even negotiated? It didn’t matter. I couldn’t take it back.